Was Charlie Chaplin, a self-proclaimed Romani, of Indian origin? What about great artists like Pablo Picasso & Elvis Presley….
While the world has significantly progressed over the past century, there exist some communities, scattered across the globe, who continue to remain alienated & live on the fringes of the society due to religious, racial or social prejudices and persecutions. To name a few, the Rohingaya muslimsof Myanmar, considered to be the most persecuted community across the world, the Yezdis of Iraq, whose men were mass murdered by the ISIS militants over their refusal for changing their religion, their women kidnapped, sold and raped, the Kurds spread mainly across mountainous regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria & Turkey, who in-spite of promises made by various super powers have still not been given their own homeland, the Baha’is in Iran, who get persecuted due to their religion. Another such alienated & persecuted people are the Romanies (Roma) or Gypsies as they are commonly referred.
While I have earlier written about the Rohingayas and the Yezdis (scroll my blog for the articles) I dedicate this article to the Romani people and provide a brief background on who they are and their connection to India.
Who are the Romani people…
All over Europe, North & South America, Australia and parts of Africa and Asia are found people who refer themselves as Romani and maintain a language and culture which sets them apart from the rest of their countrymen. While being scattered across various countries, majority of Romanies are found in Central & Eastern Europe. They are not a single homogenous population and their outwardly body features differ from place to place, yet they maintain many aspects of the same culture, speak dialects of the same original language and share same genetic material in their biological makeup.
With an overall population of around 12 million (some estimate 20 million) these people are more commonly referred to as Gypsies, much to their dislike, especially in the Western world where most people till date seem unaware of the Romanies real identity or origins and usually treat them as “hands off” people.
Most Romanies in Europe continue to be alienated from the mainstream society, lead a marginalized, impoverished and nomadic life, have lower health & life expectancy, poor living conditions and earn money usually by being entertainers, fortune tellers or metal workers.
According to an editorial which appeared in a British newspaper The Guardian in 2000 “the Romanies are perhaps the most singularly disliked ethnic group in the world”.
The India connection…
Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romanies originated in India, in particular from the northern region of Rajasthan & Punjab. The connection of the Romani people with India was established as late as the middle of the 18th century in Holland, when accidentally it was discovered that the Romani language had many similarities with Sanskrit. This discovery led to linguistic and genetical studies which established their connection with India, them being genetically most like the Rajput population of Rajasthan. Though there are some earlier studies which describe them as belonging to the lowest social class of India ie Shudras.
The migration of the Romani people out of India took place around the year 10th century C.E. (some believe it was 5th century onwards). There are different theories why the Romanies moved away from India, one being that they were gifted by an Indian king to the Shah of Persia as musicians somewhere in the 5th century. Another being that the first wave of migration took place when emperor Alexander took blacksmiths from India to make weapons. A recent theory suggests that it was the Seljuk Turks, who were instrumental in taking the Romanies out of India as captives after defeating the Ghaznavids (followers of Mahmud of Ghazni, who had earlier repeatedly invaded India during 1000 – 1027 C.E.) and brought them to Turkey (Byzantine Empire).
Many Romanies initially worked as “serfs” for the feudal lords and later started being held as “slaves”. As foreigners and non-Muslims, they started being considered as “property” by the Ottomans and were subject to the whims of their owners, who had complete control over all aspects of their lives. Enslavement of the Romanies continued for over five centuries. According to estimates, half of the Romani population at that time were held as slaves.
With the expansion of the Ottoman Empire towards Europe, the Romanies were carried along with their armies to Europe either as troops or as servants serving the troops or accompanying the Turkish population.
How has the Western world treated the Romani people…
When the first Romanies arrived in Europe towards the end of the 13th century, there already existed an “outsider” population in Europe – the Jews. The Jews were then a disliked community in Europe and for similar reasons – no country of their own, different religion & language, prefer keeping to themselves, practice endogamy – the Romanies started getting treated by the Europeans with suspicion and hostility. The first Romanies in Europe were wrongly associated with Islam and seen as enemies right from the beginning. Various theories started floating around the Romanies, some propagating that they were descendants of Jews who had remained hidden for years in caves, others thinking that they were due to inbreeding of Egyptians, Ethiopians and cave dwellers. Others did not think of them to be a separate ethnic group but considered them to be a mix of people made up of the criminal fringes of different European societies who deliberately darkened their faces. Almost half of them were enslaved on their arrival in Europe mainly in the territories of what is now Romania.
Within a short space of time, laws were formulated in different European countries to restrict the movement and treatment of the Romanies. In 1417, the first anti-Romani law was issued in Germany with many more to follow. In 1568 Pope Pius V banished the Romanies from the realm of the Roman Church and in 1721 Emperor Charles VI (Roman Emperor) called for the extermination of the Romanies everywhere in his domain. In Spain, Hungary and colonial Brazil it was illegal to call one-self Romani or to speak the Romani language. In England and Finland, it was even illegal to be born a Romani. For this reason, many a times the Romanies preferred to keep their origins & identity a secret, claiming to be of Greek or Italian descent.
Towards the 16th century the first lot of the Romanies were shipped to America out of Europe to work as slave workers in plantations. At present there are estimated to be one million Romanies living in America leading a marginalized life, living on the fringes of the American society
The greatest tragedy to befall the Romanies was an attempt to eradicate them as part of Hitler’s plan to have a “Gypsy” free Europe. Romanies were the only other population other than the Jews who were targeted for extermination on racial / ethnic grounds. The Nazis destroyed over half of the Romani population in Nazi occupied Europe during the Holocaust years, 1.5 million per some studies. Sadly, the United Nations did nothing to assist the Romanies during or following the Holocaust.
The continuous racism, discrimination and alienation over centuries by the main stream western society has led to the miserable conditions that most Romanies continue to live in today, as their most marginalized ethnic minority – the ghettos, high unemployment and crime rates, begging etc.
What lies ahead for the Romanies..
Over the past 5 decades there has been some work being done to create more awareness of the Romani people in the Western world. India has also been trying to do its bit. The world collectively however needs to do a lot more to assimilate these people into mainstream societies.
In 1971, the first World Romani Congress was held in Britain, part funded by the Indian Government in which representatives of some twenty countries attended. Indian links have been much more emphasized in subsequent similar gatherings. These meetings have been instrumental in the achievement of Romani representation at the United Nations. In 2001, Romanies from a number of European countries visited India to work together with Indian administration to create a statement making clear the relationship of the Romanies with India. In 2016 the then Indian External Affairs Minister Ms Sushma Swaraj called the Romanies “Children of India”, while inaugurating a three-day International Roma Conference and Cultural Festival in New Delhi.
If things are to improve for the Romani people, it is vital that the attitudes of their fellow countrymen significantly change towards them. As Vaclav Havel, an author, poet and first President of the Czech Republic said that “a country’s treatment of its Romani population would stand as the litmus test for tolerance & human rights throughout Europe”.
While doing my research on the Romanies and the treatment meted out to them by the Western society, I could not but make a comparison on how India treated the immigrant groups who had come to India during their troubled times eg the Persians (Parsis) and the Jews, with India welcoming them with open arms. Today these communities are not only well integrated with main stream Indian society but have made significant contributions for development of overall society.
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